I am a Jazz Vocalist and Artist living in Chicago. I’ve had Lupus since age 15, and I’ve worked for the past 10 years as a Patient Advocate for Lupus and Migraine Disease. I have also worked as a Crisis Intervention Counselor for the United Way, and I have been an ordained Unitarian Minister since 2000.

I’ve decided to start this Lupus blog in hopes that sharing my story may open a dialogue which supports or inspires other people suffering with the disease. Lupus doesn’t have a simple treatment yet, it’s not something that you can just take a pill for and go on with your life. It’s constantly changing and surprising you, so that you have to re-invent yourself because your ability to live and perform in the world changes as the disease progresses, or goes into remission, at it’s whim. I am 43 and have been living this way since I was 15, so I’m used to the ebb and flow of it by now. I’m not ashamed to admit it and talk about it, and I hope that I can reach out and help change the lives of others, as mine has changed so many times. With every progression of the disease I have fought and challenged it, and so far have overcome. I know that I have been blessed with good medical care, and helpful friends as well as spiritual intervention, and I’d like to share what I have with others because sometimes all we need is the support of another person dealing with challenges similar to our own, to inspire us and keep us on our path. To show us that others have “been there” and have made it through.